Dons play hard ball on Stringer
manager Jason McCartney said on Saturday he was welcome back.
In the initial meeting that paved the way for Stringer to explore his options, the coach and officials made it clear his position was untenable.
Stringer will not sit out of footy next year but could go into the pre-season draft and leave the Dogs with no compensation. The Stringer family is understood to believe only a fresh start will reinvigorate his career.
Essendon will clinch a deal for Adam Saad in coming days, almost certainly for a 2018 second-round pick.
Port Adelaide’s offer for departing Melbourne forward Jack Watts will likely be pick 31, the Power’s best pick after trading away this year’s firstround selection last year.
Geelong now has picks 19, 22, 35 and 53, giving it ample selections to satisfy Gold Coast on Gary Ablett.
The Ablett family and Geelong are mourning Ablett’s sister Natasha but the Cats will today restart negotiations.
Even if the Cats hand over a second-round pick, they still have a strong draft hand with two early selections.
The AFL’s decision to award Geelong pick 19 for departing free agent Motlop — the same as Lance Franklin — created controversy.
It again resulted in clubs calling on the league to release its formula for handing over compensation for free agents.
As player manager Scott Lucas said yesterday, the league was scared clubs would collude on a player’s contract, setting a price point that means one club simply allows the other to take him.
Richmond and Hawthorn effectively did that with Tyrone Vickery’s contract last year, furthering calls for greater transparency.
Port Adelaide must be paying Motlop somewhere near $650,000 a season over four years, the same deal that enabled Brisbane to receive endof-first-round compensation for Tom Rockliff.
A player must be paid a salary within the top five per cent of players over 25 years of age for his club to get a mid-firstround compensation pick.
But clubs are still in the dark about what qualifies for end of first round and mid-secondround compensation.